Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 38 - Medical Examiners and Inquests
Section 16 - Required Reports Relating to Certain Controlled Substances; Sole Cause of Death; Exposure of Children

Section 16. (a) The chief medical examiner shall file a report with the Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch Program any time the determined cause of death of an individual was due solely to the ingestion of a schedule II through schedule VI, inclusive, controlled substance, under chapter 94C. A report shall also be sent to the commissioner of public health in a manner determined by the commissioner of public health.
(b) Acute hospitals, as defined in section 64 of chapter 118E, shall file a monthly report regarding the exposure of children to controlled substances with the commissioner of public health in a manner to be determined by the commissioner of public health. The report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the number of infants born in the previous month identified by the hospital as having been exposed to a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance under chapter 94C or those controlled substances in Schedule III under said chapter 94C that the drug formulary commission, established by section 13 of chapter 17, has determined have a heightened level of public health risk due to the drug's potential for abuse and misuse; and (ii) the number and specific causes of hospitalizations of children under the age of 11 caused by ingestion of a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance under said chapter 94C or those controlled substances in Schedule III under said chapter 94C that the drug formulary commission has determined have a heightened level of public health risk due to the drug's potential for abuse and misuse.

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